Getting Your Garden in Top Shape
Even though we adore our gardens, nothing is more stressful than opening them up to party guests or nosey neighbors alike. Part of the fun of gardening is showing off our work to others, but the days leading up to an open house are often filled with anxiety and doubt. We’re abruptly faced with the truth of our garden’s less-than-ideal state and lack of time to fix it up. Avoid these anxieties by putting in a lot of initial time and thought into it, and then minimal time to maintain it once the clever and heavy work is over.
Plant Selection
Choose disease-resistant plants if you want to prevent potential problems. Examine the plants you’re purchasing carefully to ensure you don’t bring any diseases into your garden. Rotted roots, stains, and insects should be absent from healthy plants. Don’t forget to look at the roots as well – they should be white and firm. Make sure you don’t bring in any unwanted hitchhikers with new additions to your garden and avoid having to delve into the depths of horticulture to find out how to deal with invasive plants. With the right tools, you’ll never have to resort to googling how to kill creeping charlie, or any other common pest species.
Amplify What Exists
Once you’ve cleaned up the obvious trouble spots, improve the areas where you or your visitors are most likely to look. Make sure to keep your hobby feeling like a hobby by having fun doing everything you do, and do it because you enjoy doing it. People can sense your excitement and should appreciate your garden for what it is – an extension of the mind that designed it.
Center Feature
This could be anything from a plant, to your favorite garden art piece, a water feature, or even furniture. Highlight whatever is most prized to you by drawing attention to it. You may choose a focus plant such as a productive apple tree in a pot, and center it on any platforms you may have, like your balcony or patio. It should catch your attention as soon as you walk through the door. Make a statement with a pot or jar that is a contrast color from the others. Plant some colorful annuals or place groundcover around the base of the tree. Plants should be placed lower on either side of the pot so that the eye is drawn to the tree as the highest point.
Avoid Clutter
If you have limited space and want to grow a lot of plants, this may be difficult. Overcrowding, on the other hand, would make access difficult and the overall use of the room less manageable. Avoid using too many different materials and try to match hard surfaces with the plants you want. Consider growing some plants indoors and distributing them around the house in places where they can thrive. Ferns, for example, do well in the humidity and lower light levels found in many bathrooms, but they can eat up a lot of precious personal space that may be better used.
Gardening has many advantages and is a wonderful way to express yourself. You’ll observe and appreciate how your garden has improved and evolved each year when you look at it. It should fill you with a sense of pride and delight, knowing you are responsible for your own personal Eden.
